Stand Down
by Irene Claire
Summary: When a traumatized Army Corporal takes hostages in the TAMC emergency room, Steve and team must come to the rescue of a little girl, the ER Doctor and an injured Danny. Featuring my OC's Doctor Ramirez and wife Ellen from my earlier stories (Rabbit Stew, etc). Loosely based on an old H50 original story line that was very unsatisfying since it just "ended" so abruptly.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**NOTE: My OC's Doctor Ramirez and his wife Ellen as created and working at Tripler Army Medical Center are going to be in this plot-line as introduced from a few of my previous stories. Again this story was inspired by and is loosely based on another old TV show plot. This one from an original first season episode of H50. **

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**CHAPTER 1**

Erin was six years old and precocious. At least that's what her parents told everyone; her teachers might say differently because while she was cute and could be adorable, Erin had a distinct mind of her own. She could be disruptive in class as she made the other children laugh or played small practical jokes. And if Erin was supposed to be somewhere and wasn't … they had learned that a silent Erin was even more trouble.

Just last week, she had disappeared mysteriously on school grounds during recess and it had taken the Principal, Assistant Principal and the school nurse almost an hour to find her. In fact, the Principal had been obligated to call HPD for assistance, as well as Erin's mother who was nine months pregnant and certainly hadn't needed the stress.

Slipping back into the school and creeping past the older children's classrooms to peer into the janitor's closet, Erin had smiled and gone into the small messy room. The door was always closed and locked .. except for that day because one of the bathrooms had flooded from broken plumbing. Walking past it on the way to the playground for recess was when Erin had first noticed the iron ladder that went straight up into the ceiling.

So she had snuck back in which was easy when Jamie fell down and began to cry. With the teachers preoccupied she was back in seconds and already climbing hand over hand up to the roof hatch. Which was great fun until the janitor came back with a bucket, turned the small overhead light out, and locked the door from the outside.

But Erin hadn't been frightened at all. At first she laughed at the adventure and then had carefully felt her way back down the iron ladder that was bolted into the cinderblock wall. She had felt along the door frame, found the switch and turned the light back on .. and then as was her nature, she poked around the small closet until help arrived. She smiled sweetly at the HPD officer who unlocked the door with the janitor's key and then boldly took his hand.

"You're in a bit of trouble, _keiki_. You've given a few people quite a fright. Including your mom and she's going to have a baby soon. You can't be doing things like this." The officer tried not to smile back at her cute face. Expecting to find her crying and upset, he had been clearly impressed by her cheery attitude.

And now her mother was at TAMC because her father was an Army lieutenant and her mother was going to give birth to Erin's new little sister. Two weeks early, her mom had felt her first labor pains at home. She had immediately piled them both into the car after leaving a message for her husband to meet them at the ER. Erin had promised to be good .. very good in fact since no one was available to babysit her for the day. However, the six-year old hadn't realized how exciting the hospital would be while the doctors took care of her mother.

With so many distractions, it hadn't taken long for Erin to be intrigued by the other patients, the active trauma rooms and the overall hectic atmosphere of the emergency room in general. With her mom now going into all out labor, Erin had wandered away to find an empty lab with closets, various supplies and sterile looking tables.

Loitering by a supply of neatly wrapped bandages, rolls of tape and tongue depressors she made plans in her active imagination about how she could doctor her dolls later when the first gunshot rang out just a few feet from where she was playing. The panicked screaming started almost immediately followed by loud shouting and what sounded like hundreds of running feet.

Holding her breath, Erin peeked into the hallway and saw a big Army man dressed like her father when he came back from maneuvers. But this man had a gun and a nurse was still screaming. A policeman was lying on the floor and Erin was finally truly scared when she saw real blood leaking out from under his arm. As the soldier backed up dragging the nurse with him, Erin saw two new men run up to help. But too frightened to watch anymore, she turned and ran back into the room and tried not to cry when she heard more loud gun shots.

As quickly as she could, Erin opened one of the small supply closets under the sink and folded her body up into a ball and then closed the door. She bit down on her lip nervously as tears welled up in her eyes when all the bad people came into the same room.

She could hear the angry voices and the yelling scared her because it sounded mean and ugly. She could also hear one man's voice moaning in pain and another much older man who sounded just like her grandpa. But he sounded like her grandpa when he was sort of getting mad because he would talk low and quiet without raising his voice. The last time he spoke so low and quietly to Erin was because she had intentionally hidden his eyeglasses to see what would happen. His serious conversation about how bad that was because he had something called an eye disease had brought her to tears and she vowed never to play a joke on her grandpa again.

Carefully, Erin tried to see through the slit in the small cabinet door. She saw a white coated older man who was doing the quiet but very serious talking and figured that he was a doctor because he also had a stethoscope around his neck. And Erin knew what a stethoscope was because that was easy enough. She had seen her mom's doctor listen to her tummy to hear the baby.

But the painful moans were coming from a younger man who was lying on the floor and bleeding from his stomach and the doctor was trying to help him. But at the same time, he was arguing quietly with the loud soldier about putting the gun down. The soldier was very mad and kept refusing as he raised his voice louder and louder.

Erin bit her lip again and covered her mouth with her hand as the soldier got even more angry and waved his gun around in the air. She didn't know why he wouldn't listen to the doctor and she became more afraid when she noticed the blood on his leg. And then she flinched when a big crash sounded as the soldier toppled a gurney onto its side to block the door so nobody could come in. Trying to be brave like her father, Erin edged back as far as she could in the cabinet and stayed as quiet as a mouse.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: Wow! such incredible first reviews - thank you so much. As an FYI, TAMC does accept civilian E.R. cases. A major medical center closed certain locations across the island in 2011-2012. TAMC expanded their services to take on the civilian load. (E.R. only). With the OC relationship developed in prior stories, it's reasonable that Danny could go there.**

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**CHAPTER 2**

"So how's the rabbit?" Doctor Ramirez blandly asked as he poked at Danny's bruised ribs. He had just listened to the detective describe how he had tackled a suspect down a short flight of concrete stairs and how Steve had insisted that he visit TAMC's emergency room as a matter of due course.

"_You winced one time too many in my presence, Danny. Get it checked out .. just in case. Tripler is closest and maybe Ponch is even on duty. Go there and then go home .. after the week we've been through, everything else can wait until Monday._"

Steve had practically growled the order at him after a long night of staking out the dealings of a small but lucrative group of drug runners down on the docks. They were both tired, cranky and hungry when the drop went down; plus an all out foot chase across the docks hadn't improved their moods much.

They were forced to separate during the chase. And Danny had literally tackled the smaller of the two men while Steve continued on after the much heavier-set Hawaiian who had finally stopped of his own accord – heaving as if he was going to have a heart attack from exercise his large frame had likely never experienced, the man simply surrendered to Steve.

Coming back with this suspect in tow, he'd found Danny well in control of his own situation as his target had been knocked unconscious and now lay at his feet properly trussed up. But Danny was tightly holding his ribcage from the hard tumble.

Clearly not in the mood either, Danny had grumbled back about not needing medical care. But he had gone ahead to TAMC since, truth be told, he was miserably uncomfortable and didn't feel like a prolonged argument. So tired and achy, Danny had driven himself over to the emergency room and as luck would have it, the teams' favorite doctor was on duty. The E.R. was busy but Danny had waited patiently just so retired Army Colonel Samuel Alphonso "Ponch" Ramirez, could take a look at his impressive, multi-colored side.

Steve had already called it a day and as soon as Ramirez cleared him to leave, Danny would be doing the same with the obligatory "_I'm fine, mom_" phone call to his sometimes most-annoying boss. Albeit he knew that his own day would end soon with pain medications and two pillows. One anchored gently against his injured ribs, and a second one pulled tightly over his head in anticipation of at least eight peaceful hours of undisturbed sleep.

He groaned dramatically as Doctor Ramirez gently finished his examination and took a step back. "Just bruised so a standard OTC anti-inflammatory should do it. But how is that rabbit .. what was her name? Mr. Hoppy?"

As a favor to Danny, the medical doctor had grudgingly agreed to examine Grace's very grumpy and sickly appearing pet rabbit only to find that "Mr." Hoppy was a "_she_" and quite pregnant. Danny had been thrilled that Stan's defective little gift had seemed ill until he'd learned that Grace had loaned the creature to a classmate. Said classmate not only got the little furry fiend pregnant, but _he_ had been a _boy_ named Jake.

The baby celebration was short-lived as he put warnings back into place about Grace daring to even communicate with a youngster of the opposite sex. But then, she had asked if he would build the mother-to-be a new hutch. And with Steve's help, Mrs. Hoppy was moved into the elaborate townhouse of all rabbit hutches – which was most conveniently deposited on Stan Edwards' soil.

"Ah .. " Danny winced as he pulled his dirty, smudged t-shirt back on. "_**Mrs**_. Hoppy had eight lovely little babies that Grace managed to disseminate to good homes throughout her class."

"Disseminate?" With hands shoved deeply into his pockets, Ramirez bounced on his toes and chuckled wryly as the Detective rolled his eyes. He started to laugh before making himself stop as the ache increased in volume.

"Never mind ...Grace kept one .. and the others are gone …she," They were both interrupted by loud voices, a woman screaming and a gunshot echoing through another section of the emergency room. Instantly, the two men reacted; Danny snatching up his gun and holster while Ramirez hit the silent alarm system.

Moving together, they ran to where the sounds were coming from against a tide of patients, would-be patients and hospital staff that were fleeing the trauma area of the large emergency room. Security was attempting to control the stampede so that no one else would be injured in the resulting mêlée but they were clearly challenged by the level of panic. And anyone trying to move upstream against the tide of frightened people in the small hallway was hard pressed to succeed. Unless of course you were as big and imposing as the retired Colonel who managed to make way as if parting the proverbial Red Sea. Danny stayed in his wake as he bellowed his way through the masses at an aggressive pace.

As they rounded a corner towards a second trauma area, there suddenly were no more people as they came face to face with a wide-eyed Army Corporal holding a gun and one of the nurse's brutally by her neck. A police officer lay unconscious on the floor nearby and it was obvious that the Corporal had taken his weapon and ammunition.

"Whoa!" Ramirez hauled Danny back by the scruff of the neck as he tried to pass the doctor by and automatically take a protective stance with his own gun at the ready.

"Easy soldier ..what's going on?" Ramirez barked with authority as he put himself back between the detective and the agitated Corporal.

"What are you doing?" Hissed Danny as he vainly tried to keep a line of sight for a clear shot around Ramirez's stocky body. "He's armed .. there's a hostage .. _hello_? Doc?"

Ramirez started to whisper quickly for only Danny's ears since he knew the man. "Corporal Derrick Carter, just back from a tour overseas; being treated for head trauma. He's become a bit .. volatile."

He eyed Carter from top to bottom, taking in the new nasty gash by his temple that seemed to have been only partially dressed. Frowning unhappily at the roughed up appearance of the man before trying to command him to release one of his best E.R. nurse's and relinquish the weapon.

"Carter, stand down!" But the Army Corporal only shook his head _no_ as Ramirez held his hands out defensively.

The nurse, Gina Hodge, took a deep breath before quickly trying to explain. "He was roughed up in a bar fight .. found him in an alley unconscious .. we were just checking his injuries ..he came around, panicked, and grabbed the officer's gun." Carter growled warningly at the nurse before choking off her words.

"Shut up!" He barked out as he put the weapon back to her head before he addressed Ramirez directly. "I caught these two infiltrating the barracks. Radios are out but I've sent for help .. using other means." Shifting, he tightened his hold around the nurse's neck and she gasped now in fear at the strength of his grip.

Danny edged along with the doctor as he took a few tentative steps forward. Carter's gun hand was shaking and he alternated between aiming the gun at the two men and the nurse's head.

"Stop struggling, Gina." Ramirez softly asked the young nurse who immediately did her best to listen. "Derrick is just a little confused and he's going to let you go."

As a retired Colonel, the older doctor not only had an impressive no-nonsense nature, he was also a large, broad-shouldered man and not many dared to cross him. Rumor had it that his own temper could be extreme and Danny had actually witnessed it first hand. So even though the harsh tone wasn't meant for him, Danny cringed inwardly.

"I said. Stand down, Corporal." The blatant warning was voiced in a deep, threatening rumble. It was severe but it unfortunately had the opposite effect as the soldier's face took on a menacing and suspicious expression. And when Danny and Ramirez moved deliberately forward, he began to drag the nurse backwards towards one of the labs.

"I don't recognize either of you .. what unit are you with?" Even more wary now, the gun swung quickly to settle on Ramirez giving Gina a chance to disobey the doctor's earlier request. Kicking backwards, she caught Carter in the shin. An elbow flew into his stomach and it was enough for him to let her go. Falling to her knees, Gina skittered away to hide behind the counter of the nurse's station.

Reacting quickly, Ramirez dove at the Corporal's hand and a struggle for control began while Danny tried to get a clear shot to wound the irate soldier. The doctor had his strong fingers wrapped around Carter's wrist and his second hand buried in the man's neck. But Danny never got that chance as a shot rang out unexpectedly.

And Danny was close; so close he had no chance of finding cover when Carter's weapon discharged once to rock him to a complete stand still. He stumbled back into the wall of the corridor and couldn't tell then if his own weapon went off from the shock or if he had pulled the trigger on purpose.

He watched as the Corporal winced and then his eyes darkened with a dangerous rage. He staggered too, but stayed on his feet as Danny's bullet went completely through the calf of his right leg. Feeling as if he'd been punched, Danny needed to use the wall to stay upright. His brain was short circuiting as he looked down at his t-shirt and saw a small red blood stain appearing on the lower left hand side of his stomach. Then there was a matching feeling of a hot wetness creeping and expanding down his lower back.

The dull throb flared into a sharp, biting pain and Danny's gun hand wavered in the air. He was helpless as his weapon fell from fingers that were instantly numb and the breath left his lungs. He dimly registered Ramirez losing the battle with the Army soldier as he regained complete control of the situation. And now, the doctor had a horrified expression all for Danny and he could barely hear Derrick Carter at all.

Suddenly, the larger than life frame of the doctor took up what was left of his fading vision. "Danny. Easy." But the rest of the words became a buzz of nonsensical sound as his knees gave way and he found himself wrapped in the big doctor's arms. Breathing raggedly through his nose as incredible pain spiked through his abdomen, Danny couldn't help clutching at the doctor's white coat. Confused by the rapid change of events, Danny waited for the inevitable connection with the tiled floor. But his leaden descent was broken by those same strong hands that kept him upright.

"Stay with me, Detective." He finally heard Ramirez's demanding whispers through a mind now hazy with pain. Sounds were oddly fluctuating and Danny could barely keep up with what was happening. He did sense the worried anger though as the doctor covered the bleeding wound firmly with his own hand. And Danny sagged again as the pain unexpectedly ratcheted up to an all new high. Moaning in objection, he closed his eyes as he picked weakly at the unrelenting fingers.

"No, Danny. Just breathe and stay with me." He had to force his head up and then his eyes open as Ramirez ducked to pull his arm over his shoulders; but somehow the doctor was keeping his other hand firmly wedged into the bloody wound. Danny saw that the nurse was gone and the officer still lay unmoving on the floor. And that sadly, Corporal Carter had scooped up Danny's own gun as he took back firm control of the playing field.

Danny blinked as he vainly tried to clear his vision. Gasping through the pain, he found himself staring at the barrel of an HPD revolver which was levelled directly at him and Ramirez.

"Move. Now." With a hand that was now eerily steady, Carter's demands were clearly not to be ignored. However, Danny could feel Ramirez's own anger echoing through his tense body as he hesitated for a split second.

"Doc?" Danny coughed out in concern as he sensed the dangerous mood swing. He wondered for a brief second if Ramirez was channelling his crazy partner as the large man seemed to refuse the soldier's request.

"Hang on. You're going to be fine." The anger was still on the surface, but there was a subtle softening of his posture as Ramirez murmured the words instead. And as his head fell forward wearily, Danny felt himself being half dragged down the hospital corridor as Carter barked enraged orders for them to double-time it, so that they could fall back to a better position and away from enemy fire.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: thank you all for everything and the wonderful encouragement. ;-) I'm a little behind thanking each of you but will do my best to catch up.**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**CHAPTER 3**

It was late morning and the sun was well up when Steve got home just around the same time Danny was being examined at Tripler. Like Danny, he was exhausted after the fourteen hour stake-out but pleased they'd gotten their suspects locked up and now locked down in prison. And then, even though he was already running on fumes, he went for a short soothing swim before showering and falling into bed.

He fell asleep immediately not even thinking about Danny or the promise of a phone call after a side-trip to TAMC for a mandatory check of the bruised ribs. They both had known that nothing was broken, but the ache was indeed bad enough to warrant the check-up. Danny had disgustingly waved off the need for a McGarrett-sized babysitter. So Steve thought nothing of it as he rolled on his stomach, pulled the blankets over his head, and simply let his body relax completely.

Five hours later a persistent buzzing finally made it through his senses but he lay there in a complete haze trying to first understand what the noise could be. He groaned when he realized it was his cell phone and he snaked his hand out blindly to tap along the side table to find the offensive device.

"Daniel. Go to sleep." He mumbled to himself as he forced one eye open to blink at the now, much too bright display. But he only groaned louder when the buzzing vibration stopped and he saw that he'd missed not one, but five calls. His fingers fumbled to the caller id and he paged through expecting for them all to be from Danny. But two were from Kono and the last three were from Chin.

He was about to redial Chin's number when his phone went off again. "Chin." Steve croaked out in a voice raspy from a deep sleep and then cleared his throat. "What's going on?'

The urgent tone of Chin's voice woke him almost immediately as did the angry words from his normally quiet and reserved friend. _"Where the hell have you been? There's a hostage situation at Tripler. Kono and I are here already and setting up a staging point. Steve .. we need you down here. Now. We've been trying to get you for over an hour. Steve, just where the hell have you been?"_

He was kicking off blankets and quickly forgetting about his need for sleep as he searched for clothes to throw on. "I was sleeping. The stake out was a bear .. tell me about the situation. Who and how many are involved? Have you called Danny yet?"

And as the words left his mouth, Steve froze mid-stride in his bedroom. Tripler? Chin's anxiety, the number of missed calls and their desperate need to reach him. He knew it before Chin blurted the words out and his heart was plummeting while he was simultaneously shouting a frantic _no_ in his head.

"_Doc Ramirez and Danny .. they're the hostages._" Chin hesitated and Steve could now hear the chaos in the background. The stress in Chin's voice was amplified as he continued to explain what was going on.

"_There was an exchange of gunfire. Danny's been injured .. according to a nurse that managed to get away .. it looks pretty bad. They're holed up in a trauma area by the emergency room."_

Steve closed his eyes for a moment in shock before he started moving again. His voice was low and grim as he jogged out of his house. "I'm on my way."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Danny lay on the cold tiled floor of the lab room that he and Doc Ramirez had been forced into. He lay there in a shocked state of disbelief that he'd been shot in the abdomen by the crazed Army Corporal that was now dragging an over-turned gurney in front of the one door to create a barricade of sorts.

"Most people go to the E.R. to get fixed up. Me? No. I get shot at." Danny puffed out in a dazed mumble as he raised his bloody hand up in the air and looked at it in confusion before letting it sink back down to his chest. He closed his eyes again as he listened to Ramirez who was practically chanting his own angry tirade to himself while he efficiently emptied a cabinet in its entirety of bandages and gauze. Carter was still yelling but his anger was currently aimed back down the hallway and not at his hostages. Seconds later, Danny blinked up as the doctor knelt down, lifted his t-shirt and started to work.

"Doc." He grimaced in pain as he grabbed at the doctor's wrists with shaking hands while the man wadded a mound of bandages into the wound to stop the bleeding.

"Hurts." Danny whispered as his vision grayed around the edges and his fingers spasmed in pain around Ramirez' hands. "Stop .. it's good ..enough."

But Ramirez's face was unreadable with lips so firmly pressed together that they made one hard white line as he ignored Danny to continue a desperate triage with one eye on Derrick Carter. Pressing down firmly on the wound, he shushed Danny as the detective's knees reflexively came up in pain and weakening hands tried to push him away.

"Doc." Danny whimpered again as he began to pant in a pathetically pained rhythm.

"Sorry, Danny. I know the pain's bad." Ramirez softly whispered as he gently rolled the injured man over to examine the exit wound where he was forced to repeat the process despite Danny's moaned complaints. "But I've got to stop this bleeding. Just hang in there for me."

He scowled as Danny began to tremble and with one blood-stained hand, he leaned forward to take his pulse which was fluttery and much too rapid. His newest patient was quite obviously now going into shock from the bullet wound, pain and blood loss. Ramirez looked around the room again and slowly got to his feet pointing to extra sheets and blankets piled high on a small cabinet.

"I'm getting those to cover him." He waited a split second as Carter narrowed his eyes at the statement and then agreed.

Carefully, the doctor lifted Danny's head to pillow it with one blanket as he spread two more completely over his lower legs. "Better?" He asked as he used his stethoscope to not only listen to Danny's heart, but also his chest and stomach. Gentle fingers probed Danny's abdomen and the doctor sighed with some relief that things felt normal.

"So?" Danny murmured as he lay limply under the doctor's ministrations. It calmed him slightly when the doctor patted his hand reassuringly before bringing the heavy blankets up firmly around his shoulders. The warmth felt wonderful as Danny closed his eyes wearily. If he thought he was tired from the long stake out, what he was experiencing now trumped it in spades.

"I don't think you're bleeding internally. If the pain changes .. if it becomes worse though .. you tell me, Danny. Immediately."

With this eyes still closed, Danny huffed an agreeable sound before forcing words out on weak exhale. "You'll be the first to know, Doc."

"Medic. How's my Sergeant doing?" Carter demanded in a harsh voice as he watched the obviously skilled triage. So far the addled Corporal had called the esteemed E.R. doctor the _enemy_, someone named Reynolds and now he had switched him over to be an Army medic. And Ramirez was taking advantage of that new title for all it was worth and encouraging Carter's latest belief since it put him in a much better position.

Carter's voice was loud and angry as he held a television remote in his hand and wagged it in the doctor's direction. "Radio is still out. But we need to get evac on the line for a lift."

"Bloody hell." Ramirez glowered in disgust at the man knowing that the severe flashback was not his fault but completely feeling powerless to help put an end to the ill-begotten situation. Months ago, the traumatic brain injury resulting from a road side bomb in Iraq had altered the soldier's personality. And now the supposed altercation in the alley near a downtown bar had certainly exacerbated that condition. It was a lot to contend with and the doctor had limited options.

"He's not good and we can't wait for a chopper." Ramirez remained authoritative as he tried to play along and motioned towards Danny. "I need to get your Sergeant back to base now .. I need him behind the lines. I have limited supplies and I'm having trouble stopping this bleeding. He needs exploratory surgery and much more than I have at my disposal."

In frustration, the doctor clenched his hands into tight fists. He needed to go along with the ruse while he had the man's attention so he threw in a few new words for good measure. "Sir. I need to assess your injuries too. And I suggest we get a litter and walk out of here now .. while you still can .. together."

"No. I'm fine. And it's not safe." Carter complained as he gestured wildly in the air. On edge and jittery, the man was vehement as he rubbed his lower leg briefly. "I need to stay here on point and hold them back. You just make sure the Sarge stays alive until help gets here."

Shaking his head in aggravation, Ramirez froze as a vibration hummed near Danny. "Cell phone." Danny mumbled as his hand slowly searched under the blankets. Moving a corner of the blanket to the side, Ramirez quickly blocked its view from the Corporal, gently moved his patient's hand away as he tried to help, and turned it on noticing that the call was from Chin.

"Good news. It's your people." Ramirez very softly whispered. He was pleased to see the brief quirk of Danny's lips though worried by the unfocused expression. Keeping the phone on, but hiding it under a fold in the blanket, he sat back on his heels and spoke very loudly for the benefit of Chin Ho Kelly on the other side of the wireless connection.

"Corporal Carter, your leg wound is superficial but it needs treatment. And, _sir_. As a trained Army medic, I need help for this badly injured man and I need help …_now_."

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: I am leaving on a short business trip today. It "may" affect posting for tomorrow - but I will try to stick to my daily schedule as promised. I know you would all just "hate" getting 2 chapters in one day - if (for example) I decide it may be too hard for me to post on Thursday. You just might get two chapters today. ;-) We shall see! But then if that does happen, you will HAVE to wait until Friday for the next one.**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**CHAPTER 4**

Erin had been hiding in the cabinet under the sink for a very long time; and slowly becoming more and more afraid. Every so often she would peek through the slit in the small doors to watch the big doctor take care of the injured man. He was sleeping a lot more and that seemed to upset the doctor because he would use his stethoscope again and then frown unhappily. Sometimes he would tap the sleeping man's cheeks to wake him up or talk in a stern, threatening voice and that would work too.

And at first she had almost giggled when the doctor used his stethoscope to listen to the man's tummy. Erin had seen her mother's doctor do that often and she even got to listen a few times herself to the thumping thud-like sounds of her baby sister. She wanted to tell this doctor that he was silly because that sick man was a _boy_ and boys didn't have babies!

Erin kept quiet though because the doctor was so very unhappy and sometimes even seemed to be mad; but not nearly as angry as the soldier. She tried to get comfortable by stretching her legs out and then shifted a little to sit cross-legged. Nothing worked though and as time dragged on, she got more tired and sore from sitting in the small space. Plus she knew that she was in a lot of trouble and her parents were going to be very angry with her. Feeling alone and scared, the tiny sniffle came out before she could hide it and her eyes grew in alarm as the doctor glanced curiously towards her hiding place. She scrunched down away from the door as his shadow got bigger. He was standing up now, but instead of walking over to where she was, he pulled a set of keys from his pocket. Erin could hear them jingling in his hand and his shadow moved away as he talked to the soldier.

"I'm taking more supplies from that locker." She didn't hear the soldier say anything but it must have been okay since the doctor moved to a place where she couldn't see him. A door opened and then slammed shut a few minutes later. And when he came back to the sick man, he had needles, bigger bandages and a bag that looked like it was filled with water.

Erin watched as the doctor filled the needle with medicine and injected it into the man's right arm. The bag of water then was hooked up to yet another needle that stayed in the man's left arm with white tape. At first she thought it would hurt, but the sick man soon seemed happier as his face got more calm and peaceful. She got scared though as the doctor opened up the bigger bandages, moved the blankets and she saw the blood again on the man's shirt and stomach. The doctor spent a lot of time making sure the new bandages were just right before tucking the heavy blankets back up around his shoulders. Then she watched him look carefully at the soldier like he had a secret while he filled another needle from a different vial. But instead of using that on the sick man, the doctor only showed it to him as he whispered a few words.

Unexpectedly, Erin felt tears welling and she bit back on her sobs as she became more and more scared. She figured the doctor could help her, though the soldier with the gun was definitely bad. She was confused about what to do and that made her stay in the cabinet. Especially when the bad man began to pace and yell again so very loudly. That went on for many minutes before it completely stopped and Erin wiped silent tears away in her jeans. Waiting to be sure it was really quiet outside, she used two fingers to open the door just a small bit.

The bad man was talking to himself as he stared down the corridor, but he was at least crouched down on the floor and not looking inside the room. And the doctor was back to showing the needle to the sick man who had finally woken up again. Taking a deep breath, Erin made a decision to at least let the doctor know she was there. Maybe he could tell her what to do and then take her back to her parents.

Seconds later, the big doctor was the one with the wide surprised eyes as she gave him a frightened wave. He moved away from the sick man to be closer to her hiding place which made her feel better. And when he put his fingers to his lips and pointed to the soldier, Erin didn't like it but she nodded because she understood that she needed to stay exactly where she was until he said so. Quietly, she let the door close again and sadly pulled her knees up to her chest.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

"How long has this been going on?" Steve demanded as he ran into the command center that had been hastily assembled in the TAMC parking lot. Heavily armed HPD SWAT and Army personnel were loitering as Chin, Kono and another man tried to get more information on Corporal Derrick Carter.

"Almost three hours." Kono stated quietly and she grimaced as Steve's face became an angry mask. "It took some time for Gina Hodge to get out and away from Carter. She hid in the nurse's station and waited until Carter forced Danny and Ramirez into the lab. Then she managed to drag the HPD officer close enough to an employee stairwell so Adler's team could do the rest. But no one can get further down the corridor or anywhere near that room yet."

She pointed towards the nurse that had already given as much background as she could on the situation and about Carter's confusion. Steve belatedly noticed that the woman's neck had significant bruising from where she'd been nearly throttled.

"Carter has two weapons that we know of - the HPD officer's and now Danny's revolver. It was bad enough to find out Doc Ramirez was a hostage .. but no one knew who the second person was until a little more than an hour ago." Kono hesitated a moment with her question. "Steve, why is Danny even here? We thought you both called it a day after working all night .. and then after the bust?"

Steve ran his hands over his face suddenly feeling very weary again as a headache settled full swing at the base of his skull. His reply was low and they barely caught the explanation. "I made him get checked out because he got banged up. But it was really _nothing_ .. nothing like this."

It took a minute for him to shake it off before asking his own question. "Now you tell me. Three hours is an eternity. Why so damned long?"

"TAMC staff has access to the front desk and to all of their computer records but the E.R. was hammered today with cases. When they finally completed a head count of staff and patients, Danny came up as missing and most likely with Ramirez. The E.R. schedule put him as being in exam room five around the time this all went down," Chin explained.

"How bad is he hurt and where are they exactly?"

Kono was far from happy as she continued to fill Steve in on what they knew. "They're in a small lab at the end of a t-shaped corridor. One way in; one way out. The nurse didn't get a good look, but her impression was that Danny was hit low in the stomach. And now we have more intel from Doc Ramirez himself, that it's bad. He's asked for help as soon as possible. With only one way in or out of that side of the corridor, we have nothing to work with."

"How do we have intel? Is Carter communicating with us?" But Steve blanched at the news as Chin gestured towards the makeshift table where a map of the TAMC hospital was laid out and being assessed again. A female soldier was lost in another world with a headset on. Her face was full of a deep concentration as she not only recorded what she was listening to, but actively took a flurry of handwritten notes.

"We're _sort of_ on the line with Ramirez. You need to meet Master Sergeant Adler though. He's assumed responsibility of TAMC security and his team notified us as soon as they determined Danny was involved."

"Thank you for that." Steve said with sincerity as he shook hands with the older, balding and heavily geared-up man that had been meeting with Chin and Kono. "What can you tell me about all of this?"

Adler pointed to the facility map. "First, we obviously have protocol to follow here .. this is a hospital. The good news is that the situation is contained and everyone in the immediate vicinity has been evacuated. But most of our standard methods can't be used as you well know. No flash-bangs; no tear gas .. no gas of any kind because of the ventilation system."

A photo of the soldier was tossed under Steve's nose as Adler continued. "Carter's just back from deployment. He was gravely injured by an IED approximately six months ago and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He's a good guy but the TBI changed his personality and he can be aggressive. He angers easily and becomes physical .. unreasonably violent.. at the drop of a hat."

Steve grimaced since the growing pile of information about Carter continued to complicate even talking the man down with a hostage negotiator. Of which, Adler explained such a negotiator was in the building that very minute trying to reason with the confused soldier. He tried to listen patiently as Adler continued describing the man's recent history. "According to what we know today, an HPD officer found him this morning in an alley. He was unconscious and had been beaten. We're assuming a bar brawl where he was unfortunately hit in the head with a blunt object."

Steve looked up as Duke Lukela entered the tented area in the parking lot. "That same Officer escorted Carter here as a courtesy. When the Corporal came around in the trauma area, he grabbed my officer's weapon and shot him .. that's when he grabbed the nurse and things spiraled out of control. He seems to be in the middle of a severe flash-back."

He shook his head as he envisioned the probable scene when both Danny and Ramirez reacted to the sound of gunfire. Trying to help and defuse the situation, things had taken a turn for the worse and though the nurse had gotten out, both men were now being held hostage by the confused Army Corporal.

"Where does Carter _think_ he is?" Steve asked. "We need to shut this down and it sounds like there are limited options if he does have violent tendencies. Has there been progress with the negotiator? "

In the back of his mind, he knew that Danny had almost no time left based on what Chin said. He was thankful that at least his friend was with Ramirez and would likely have some professional care. But time was of the essence and the longer this took, the worse it would become not only for Danny but also for Ramirez ... and Carter.

"It sounds like he's back at his barracks in Iraq." Chin pointed towards the woman with the headset sitting near them and it was obvious now that she was listening intently to the chatter. "The Doc answered my call to Danny's cell and he left the connection open. We've been listening in as best as possible for about forty-five minutes now. That's how we know Danny's injury is definitely serious, plus Carter was wounded in the leg. The soldier thinks that the enemy has infiltrated the barracks and he's waiting for reinforcements and more medical supplies. He's put himself on point, wants a chopper evac, and declared that he's going to keep both his medic and injured Sergeant safe at all costs."

Stepping forward, Adler began to describe what the joint teams might do based on the limited space and the state of the hostages. But Steve reacted to Chin's information immediately by holding up his finger and leaving the staging tent. Jogging back to his truck, he pulled out his duffel bag which held his camo gear and then found a place to completely change his attire.

"At least he thinks they're the good guys." Steve said when he came back. "I want a summary of everything else you know.. I'm going in. What we can leverage is the expertise of our hostages and what the man is asking for. I need a pack of medical equipment for Ponch. Have that nurse Gina pull it together."

At first no one reacted to his startling announcement, not even Adler, until a hand snuck up from behind to take a firm hold of his forearm.

"Fine. But I'm going too." Steve turned to come face to face with Ellen Ramirez, the doctor's second wife. Ellen also worked at Tripler and was an experienced head nurse in the intensive care unit. Her hand tightened on his arm as she made her demand clear. "Don't even try to argue with me, Steve."

He managed a brief grin as he studied the determined face. Ellen had met her husband long after he had returned from a number of tours in Korea. Based on what he knew of her own extensive military background and the mere fact of whom she had willingly married, Steve had no doubts that she could easily handle herself. Plus her husband could use her skills in caring for Danny if they couldn't put an end to the situation quickly.

"Good. Go change .. we're now both active Army Corps medics and have a role to play." Steve hesitated as he loaded two small guns and packed extra ammunition. "But Ellen, this will be fast and aggressive. We need to take this head on and end it quickly."

Ellen raised an eyebrow but only turned to speak with the Master Sargeant asking for two particular weapons of her own. "Is this wise?" The man started to argue with his hands spread wide. "Listen .. Commander McGarrrett, with all due respect. You only just got here a few minutes ago and my team has a decent plan of action to bring this to a satisfactory end. The negotiator is doing a damned fine job and he understands Carter's history .. we just need a reprieve .. we need Carter to give us something."

The two measured each other briefly before Steve shrugged and smiled. "Feel free to stick to your plans if mine don't work. But I only see one way to go if that negotiator hasn't gotten anywhere in .. what? How long has he been at it?"

"Forty minutes." Kono blurted with some annoyance flashing across her face. "Forty minutes .. and we've got nothing."

"And there we have it." The challenge was blunt as Steve stared down the Master Sergeant. "We give him what he's asked for .. we use a very small team, geared up to look medical and we work directly with him."

"Meaning you of course?" Adler stated with a frown as Steve's expression clearly said that was obvious. "And what if your idea completely fails?"

Everyone shifted uncomfortably in the small tent as the two continued to square off. But Steve was adamant and fully believed what he said as Ellen smiled in agreement. "It won't."

The small group was forced to put a stop to their argument as a new voice began shouting just outside the staging tent. "I need to speak to someone in charge!"

Steve angrily strode out quickly coming face to face with an obviously distressed Army Lieutenant named McRaney. "What's the problem?"

"My daughter is missing. My wife is in labor .. she called me hours ago and it's Erin .. we can't find her. She's still inside. She has to be." Chin made a face as he pulled out the hospital's roster again.

"McRaney. Your wife was moved to another side of the hospital and is confirmed as being in safe hands. There's no notation about an Erin McRaney .. are you sure?" Chin asked, but it was obvious the lieutenant was already well aware of that fact as he tried to remain reasonable with the staging teams. "We've been listening in on the room with the hostages and we know what we're dealing with ..there's two hostages. Both adult men. No one else is in there."

"Erin is only six years old. I'm not surprised that she's not on that list. But she's here." The lieutenant interrupted Chin and practically shouted the words with upset, worried eyes that Steve realized would rival Danny's best _'don't mess with me'_ father expression. And then, McRaney added a finger that slammed into Steve's own chest for emphasis.

"We've already looked everywhere for her! And I'm telling you that she's in there because it's the only place left, and I'm getting her out."

Seconds later the woman monitoring the open cell phone signal was waving them back in. She pressed a button to switch to a loud conference speaker. They all heard Ramirez's strident voice and McRaney grabbed Steve's shoulder.

_"I have a little girl. She likes to wear different color nail polish and play hide and seek. She's very brave ... and very, very good at hiding."_

McRaney's eyes darkened in a combination of fear and determination as everyone stilled inside the staging tent. "He means Erin. That's proof she's in there with them. But it doesn't sound like this Corporal Carter knows .. _yet_."

"Damn it. How did she get in that room?" Steve groaned as he scrubbed at his face and McRaney began to implode before his very eyes. "This changes everything. We have another hostage, people."

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: Confirmed nutty day tomorrow - you get two today! And the next chapter will have to be Friday.**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**CHAPTER 5**

Danny had his eyes closed as he half-listened to Ramirez once again try to reason with the Corporal. Something had been going on both inside and outside of the lab, but Danny was just too tired to care. Even with the blankets he was cold, trembling from shock and fading in and out of consciousness but at least the pain was at bay. Ramirez had boldly taken another stance to retrieve additional medical supplies from a large closet in the corner of the room. Carter had looked at him queerly as he pulled a set of keys from his deep pockets, but surprisingly the soldier hadn't said a word. That move had earned Danny a proper pressure bandage, an IV of fluids as well as a shot of morphine.

He blearily opened his eyes as he tried to focus on the syringe hidden in the doctor's hand and then slowly looked up to stare at resolute eyes. He frowned because Ramirez most decidedly had a _face_ and Danny didn't like the looks of it.

"Oh no." Danny sighed in defeat. "You make faces too." Ramirez snorted softly and then explained what he was holding.

"Sedative." Ramirez whispered. "Just need a chance ..his leg needs doctoring at least, so that's my excuse."

If Danny had the energy to roll his eyes, he would have because it was a super-sized SEAL idea of a plan. But he certainly couldn't argue that things had gone on much too long and he understood the doctor's growing level of impatience.

"Okay. But .. be careful." He murmured up at the older man. Carter was angry and had stayed angry which made for a tricky situation. But Ramirez grinned sarcastically and Danny realized that except for being concerned for his well-being, the older man was almost having a good time.

"This is fun for you?" He wheezed quietly in bewilderment and then coughed tiredly. "I have this new partner.. you'd like him. He's yours ..just take him .. both of you are .. like-minded ..trouble magnets. This is all his fault anyway."

Danny's voice was weakening, but the softly voiced rant made Ramirez pat his arm soothingly.

"This will be quite the entertaining story once we get you out of here." But the doctor paused to glance towards the sink. He was sure that he had heard a small sound from under the cabinets and he froze when the door moved ever so slightly. He stared hard and the door moved again to reveal a tiny child's hand with different color nail polish on each finger. And then he glimpsed one large, very frightened brown eye and a glimmer of light blondish hair.

"Oh no." He breathed out under his breath.

Danny frowned as he watched the doctor's worry grow tenfold. "What? What's .. wrong?" Ramirez squeezed Danny's arm, pocketed the syringe, and changed position to be between Danny and the sink. Carter was directly in front of them by the one and only door as he mumbled in a fury about failed missions and losing his Sergeant.

"We have company." He whispered to Danny as he tried to get a better view of the child hiding in the cabinet. He realized she was watching him again as the door was nudged open more from the inside.

"Company?" Danny coughed out in alarm, but Ramirez quickly put his finger to his lips as he tried to make his expression clear to keep the girl safely hidden. He hoped she would understand his meaning as he stared first to Carter and then kept his finger held up to indicate again that she needed to be quiet. He was pleased when the hand disappeared and the door gently swung shut.

"Smart girl." Ramirez muttered under his breath in approval. But a little louder then, he aimed his voice towards the cell phone.

"So Carter … do you have any kids? A little girl maybe?" Carter swung around nervously before shaking his head with a nasty frown. Someone was shouting to him from below where he was on guard and he knew it was a trick. Ramirez saw the anger rising and could hear part of the conversation. Scowling, he realized that it was the hostage negotiator again and whatever was being said was not well-received by the ailing Corporal.

"No, no kids. Keep your mind on your work."

"Huh." Ramirez remarked mildly as he tried to make his point understood to the armed men making plans in the parking lot. The negotiations weren't working and no one seemed to know a child was also in the room. With Danny becoming more critical by the moment, the doctor needed to raise the bar and find a way to end the stand-off. He was no longer willing to try his hand at using the sedative because if things didn't work as he'd hoped, a child plus an injured man would both be at serious risk. It was one thing if the soldier believed Danny an ally, but he had no idea what the little girl would do if frightened. And he certainly didn't want to test Carter.

"It sounds like both our jobs are becoming a bit overwhelming." The doctor stressed the last word heavily towards the open cell phone. "We both might need better .. help. I know I do. Need better help that it is."

He could sense Danny trying to keep up with the change in conversation and as he continued, Danny's expression altered to one of complete surprise. His voice intentionally became scornful as he tried to make his message very clear. "Some things work .. and some things don't." He ignored the angry glance from the Corporal as he kept talking, but he did change his tone to become more conversational.

"As I was saying before though. I have a little girl. She likes to wear different color nail polish and play hide and seek. She's very brave ... and very, very good at hiding." Ramirez cocked his head towards the cabinet and completely bewildered, Danny slowly rolled his head to eye the doors. And then he saw what the doctor had seen; the shadowed movement of a figure.

The Corporal muttered disgustedly and turned away to look down the hallway again. Over his shoulder, his voice was rough and laced with a growing aggravation. "And like I told **_you_ **before .. do your damned job. And shut the hell up."

Danny felt a fearful stirring in the pit of his stomach as he finally saw the small fingers grip the narrow opening to close it more tightly. The mood in the room was changing and Carter was approaching a new edge. And now another complication; based on the size of the hand and colorful nail polish on tiny fingers, Danny estimated the little girl's age to be around five or six years old.

"Is that .. a ..?" He muttered in confusion but Ramirez was gently shushing him as he measured Carter's reactions. The soldier was staring down the corridor and jumping at every sound as he only half-listened to the doctor's ramble. He shrugged offhandedly before waving the doctor off without really looking.

"It is." The whisper was low and urgent as the sounds of a few unhappy sobs eked from the cabinet. Danny paled as the doctor said a few more choice, but very careful words. The disgusted warning from Carter was enough to end further attempts.

"Just take care of Sarge before the evac arrives. And then shut your mouth." After that, their conversation ceased for a good many minutes as Ramirez stationed himself between Danny and the cabinets. Hoping that the messages he tried to send made it to the right ears, he stayed quiet now to not antagonize Carter as the man became suspicious. Sweat had beaded on his face as he white-knuckled the HPD revolver and reacted to every subtle noise. He had also taken Danny's own gun and laid it down in front of him on the floor. At the ready and fully loaded,the safety was off should he need his own type of back-up.

Carter suddenly ducked down as a loud welcoming shout reached their ears. It came from a very familiar voice that pulled Danny back from the darkness where he had started to drift. But Carter only hastily primed his weapon and shifted anxiously behind the gurney.

"Identify yourselves!" The soldier began to argue in earnest with the small rescue team that was slowly edging closer. Danny peeled his eyes partially open and met the doctor's pleased face.

"Steve." Danny mumbled as he blinked up hazily at Ramirez. "Crazy SEAL will get us all killed."

But Ramirez began to smile openly as he patted Danny on the arm. "Probably." He muttered back in total jest and rubbed Danny's cold hands as the injured man's lips twitched in a brief grin and his eyes slid shut.

"But he's just what the doctor ordered." He watched as Danny weakly snorted behind his closed lids and then wearily coughed. Ramirez re-checked the pressure bandage relieved to see no new bleeding, but he was becoming desperate to end the stand-off as Danny began to fade. He listened intently as Steve and a small group carefully made their way closer towards the lab; incredibly happy that a more aggressive approach had finally been planned.

Making sure he was still between the sink cabinets and his badly injured patient, the doctor kept a strong hand on Danny's arm and readied himself. He frowned though when he noticed that his friend had now lost his battle to remain conscious. Leaning over, Ramirez checked Danny's pulse rate and shook his head before looking up to watch Carter's agitated reactions.

"Soon." He mumbled softly as he slowly stood up and watched their rescuers carefully approach, "Rest Danny .. let us do the work."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

With a lot of fast talking and much convincing, it then took another fifteen minutes for Steve, Ellen and Lieutenant McRaney to infiltrate the exam room now fake military stronghold as Ramirez insisted that the three camo-clothed and fully geared-up Army soldiers were additional medics for triage and removal. Master Sergeant Adler was also in the building, flanked by Chin and Kono. Just out of sight, Adler had refined his team's plans to provide a second line of support should the situation escalate or once Carter was neutralized. He had also grudgingly agreed to Steve's plan after a brief discussion with the negotiator who had come to a complicated crossroads.

_"He's a complex personality."_ The negotiator reported with a bit of exasperation. _"And if you're telling me a child is now in that room, then I must admit a more proactive approach is called for. That doctor is telling us quite blatantly that this tact is not working. Use Carter's delusional requests to get people closer to him. He only thinks I'm the enemy at this point and we're losing valuable time."_

To Steve's credit, he'd waited for Adler to come to his senses without prompting the man again. In fact, the Master Sargeant got moving immediately after one final hint provided by Ramirez echoed through the tent. "_Have you ever seen a child have a temper tantrum, Corporal? It's not a pretty sight and causes a great deal of ... quite unnecessary .. problems."_

Ellen had made an odd sound in her throat that was a cross between laughter and a worried groan. And then she translated for anyone that doubted what her husband was trying to get across. _"Erin's coming unglued in that room. He's not going to be able to stop what comes next if Carter finds out that she's in there."_

And putting the plan into motion came none too soon as more muffled sniffles had definitely begun to emanate from under the area near the sink. Listening in on the hostage side, Steve was fed valuable information by the radio controller in the staging area. That information coincided perfectly with what Carter was being told by the doctor now playing the very concerned role of Army medic with a truthfully critical patient and a still hidden child that was now beginning to fret.

Ramirez smiled happily at Ellen who entered the room behind Steve; she could more than handle herself and he was proud to see her as part of the rescue contingent. He knew from experience that her pack would hold everything including the kitchen sink to take care of his patient.

"What happened .. did you get stuck in traffic?" Ramirez didn't try to stop his sarcastic comment as Steve carefully entered the room. But all the SEAL dared do was raise his eyebrows at the snarky words. Moving forward, the doctor offered the confused soldier some support as he nervously backed up.

"This is the rest of my unit, Corporal. They were delayed by insurgent activity .. but trust me please, they are here to help."

The Corporal had picked up Danny's gun and then had moved the over-turned gurney to allow them entrance. But he still had the policeman's pistol warily aimed at Steve's chest. McRaney was bringing up the rear with his hand at the ready for the gun stowed in the back of his pants. He loitered by the doorway as Ellen lowered her gear pack next to Danny and took up a position just behind her husband. Ignoring the men, she began to unpack more supplies including blankets, a blood pressure cuff, portable oxygen tank, pain medication and additional fluids.

Ramirez lowered himself slowly back down seemingly to assist his peer, but casually pocketed the small gun that Ellen slid over under his hand. "Just in case." She murmured quietly as she followed his gaze to the cabinetry. "Oh boy." She remarked softly because now nearer the cabinet, she could easily hear the child beginning to cry.

"Erin." She mouthed and then looked pointedly to McRaney who was still behind Steve but most definitely on edge. "He's her father." But then she was back to Danny, making sure the oxygen was fitted securely around his mouth and nose.

"This isn't good." She grimaced unhappily over his poor vitals which she knew her husband was more than aware of himself. "His blood pressure is very low; as is his respiration." Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him edge closer to the cabinet to whisper something to the little girl before she began speaking directly to the skittish soldier.

"The sergeant is in shock and has lost a lot of blood. We need to get him back to base immediately." Though it was all true, Ellen smartly parroted the same words her husband had used to back up what they'd been hearing over their radios. "Choppers may or may not make it in .. we need to pack him up now regardless. We may have to walk out together."

But like the well-orchestrated ploy it was, two Army choppers did fly low over the hospital. The loud hovering noise reverberated into the building and though he didn't lower his weapon, Carter began to smile happily. Steve stood directly in front of the Corporal wearing full deployment gear and anxiously forcing himself to avoid glancing towards where Danny lay on the floor. His one quick look proved to him that Danny was in fact hurt badly and Ellen's words were very truthful. But he also knew from what he'd been told that the little girl was under the sink. With Ellen now near Danny, Doctor Ramirez had moved to purposefully block the cabinets with his body; but Steve could practically feel McRaney's agitated breath on his neck.

Their positions put Erin and now the doctor in his and her father's potential line of fire should they miss Carter. And the soldier still had too much control in the desperate situation and anything could go quite wrong. With the child present, no one was willing to do anything rash so they waited. They needed to get the Corporal moving so he was either between them or in a totally different location in or outside of the room; and then absolutely disarmed.

Steve folded his arms arrogantly and took two purposeful steps counter-clockwise while McRaney stayed in position. It did what was intended as Carter moved in kind as part of a reverse dance. He was now nearly between the two men but it was not quiet perfect since the revolver was still aimed directly at Steve's chest ... and into the center of the room.

"As your ranking officer, I'd appreciate you stowing that weapon Corporal. Now. Stow it. And stand down."

Carter paused almost angrily and Steve immediately changed course by pointing to the leg wound as McRaney readied himself for a possible escalation. "You're wounded. You held this location? In your condition .. I am very impressed Corporal. It's a very well-earned time for all of us to evacuate now that the choppers are here."

It was enough for Ramirez to weigh in as the disgusted medic to buffer Steve's compliments. "He did. And he's denied himself medical care to protect us. Now that reinforcements have arrived for a successful evac, I'd like to take a look at his leg. And then we can all get out of here."

And those combined words of praise and reason got Carter to lower his weapon and relax. "Yes Sir." He said proudly and then he nodded in agreement towards Ramirez as he holstered the gun and allowed the doctor to approach with syringe back in his grasp. McRaney calmly stepped forward asking for the now holstered weapon which Carter hesitantly gave him.

"I'll just hang onto this for you while the medic helps you out. You know the drill, roll your sleeve up." The grin shared between Steve and the Lieutenant was subtle as the plan finally came together and they were now only seconds from putting an end to the terrible event.

Claiming it was an antibiotic against infection, the doctor quickly injected Carter's arm as the man willingly held it out to him. As he knelt with intentions of wrapping the leg wound, the soldier's knees were already wobbling enough for Steve and the doctor to forcibly sit him in a chair. Without a shot being fired, it was over in a matter of minutes. And when he lost consciousness, Carter never noticed that Danny's weapon had been plucked from the back of his pants by the astute McRaney, nor that he'd been cuffed where he sat.

"Erin Jayne McRaney! Front and center! Now!" And then the anxious father was quickly kneeling down by the cabinet and opening the door. Seconds later a sobbing blur of pink and purple was catapulting out of hiding and into his arms.

"Take her out of here, Lieutenant." Steve managed to smile as the man strode from the room. Upset, happy and angry all at the same time, Steve heard him lovingly reading his six-year old adventurer the riot act for once again, not staying close to her mother.

"All clear. McRaney's coming out with the child." Steve radioed to the primary staging point and repeated himself. "All clear. It's over. Adler .. I need medical personnel and have your security team take charge immediately." He was making his demands while bending down to where Ramirez and his wife were anxiously hovering over Danny.

"How bad?" Steve asked worriedly as he took in Danny's ashen pallor under the oxygen mask. Small tremors were running through his body and his forehead was deeply lined in a pained discomfort. ""Ponch? Doc? Really .. how bad?" He breathed out again as he knelt down to gently squeeze Danny's shoulder.

His voice was barely audible as he listened dismally to Ramirez's response. "Danno. What the hell happened?"

"Bad. He needs to be in surgery now .. I need a vascular surgeon and a full set of tests to see where that bullet traveled on its way out of his abdomen." Ramirez was barking his own dire set of orders as he wiped his blood stained hands on a towel. He spared Steve a quick glance that was filled with an undisguised worry and some guilt as his medical team came running into the lab with more equipment. Chin and Kono were also with them, shocked to see that Danny was unconscious and staggered by what they heard Ramirez saying to Steve.

"I'll do my best." Steve was gently pushed out of the way as Ramirez rushed to help his team. And Steve's face was crestfallen when Danny's limp body was gently transferred from the floor to a gurney because the doctor was sullen and not making any promises. In fact, his words were the exact opposite of what the team was hoping to hear.

"I will do my best. But you need to be ready for the worst .. I'm sorry, Steve. That was a godforsaken long amount of time and I just don't know yet."

Turning to his wife, he grabbed Ellen's hand as the group moved rapidly towards the surgical rooms. "I need you too for this one. I need you to be my second brain … just like old times."

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: see it's Friday - and the next chapter has arrived! My trip was nuts - and then 6 hours of nonstop travel to get home. :-(UGH. anyway - thanks for your patience and as always, the very generous comments!**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**CHAPTER 6**

More than three hours later, the team was silent and morose as they held vigil at TAMC and waited to hear any word about Danny. Rotating in and out of the somber waiting room, were the likes of Duke Lukela, Master Sargeant Adler, and Lieutenant McRaney with young Erin firmly in hand. Looking no worse for wear after the terrible scare, Erin only seemed to be disappointed as she looked around the room and then tugged on her father's hand.

"Where is he?" She asked with a frown. "He's not here?" Her father shushed her as he explained to the team that his daughter wanted to officially meet Doctor Ramirez.

Chin shook his head tiredly as the child fairly bounced on her toes in frustration. "You have your hands full with this one, don't you?" He said with a quiet chuckle as McRaney made a half-annoyed face. Remembering his earlier comments, Chin asked about the baby. "And .. how's your latest addition? Has she arrived?"

"You really have absolutely no idea." Referring to Erin, he stared down at his daughter before continuing to make a point that she would be undoubtedly hearing for years to come. "Erin is grounded .. indefinitely .. until she's forty. Or longer." The fresh warning made tears well up in her eyes as she looked up at him sadly and it was all the father could do to not give in so soon.

"She's fascinated by Doctor Ramirez and she wants her own stethoscope because now my Erin wants to be a doctor. She was hoping that he would be here even though I told her that he was helping patients." Softening slightly and studying the quiet team, McRaney ruffled her hair and then reminded her that the doctor was a very busy man. "We'll come back at a better time, okay?"

But then McRaney provided the only real distraction as he gaped over the birth of what would should have been a new second daughter. "Ah, well .. she's here without any complications. But _she_ is actually a _he_." He reported as he shoved his cell phone full of baby pictures under their noses.

"That _he-she_ thing seems to happen a lot around here." Steve stated dryly as he recalled the issue of Grace's pregnant rabbit - in reverse - where the male rabbit was found to be a very pregnant and agitated doe. He waved off the Lieutenant's quizzical look as the memory made him smile because the incident had been extremely funny at the time. But he sobered quickly as he glanced at his watch and then tried to dutifully look at the newborn's pictures.

"All this time we've focused on girl's names and pulling Erin's things out of storage. His room is full of pretty frilly things." McRaney began to smile happily. "But I have a son! Well, a son named Megan. So I guess we'll have to improvise a bit."

And then before leaving, he asked to privately meet with Steve in the corner of the waiting room. "I'll be back to see how Detective Williams is doing. I thought there would be word by now and I sincerely hope that everything goes well. But I need to thank you again. And please, don't interrupt me.' He shifted his feet and then warmly clasped Steve's arm. "Thank you for listening and allowing me in on this .. for trusting that I would keep it together with my daughter involved. Someone else might not have - certainly would not have - done that."

Tears lurked in the back of the Lieutenant's eyes and it was all Steve could do to merely nod in understanding. Because he did get it and he did completely understand the caliber of man he had dealt with.

It was a welcome diversion but that had now been another long hour ago and Steve was sitting rocked back against the wall with his eyes closed. He officially had a headache but in actuality, it was a nauseating migraine of monstrous proportions. Seemingly asleep, he was failing at willing the pain away and acutely aware of every sound and murmur taking place around him. And when the Surgical Intensive Care Unit doors opened, he was the first person standing.

"Ponch?" Steve breathed as he virtually stalked into Ramirez's personal space. The doctor was clearly exhausted as he took Steve's arm and moved him back where everyone was gathered. "You were in there a long time."

The doctor rubbed his face with both hands before shoving them deeply into his pockets. It was a habit that he'd adopted especially when stressed and Steve groaned inwardly as the man dropped his eyes before answering. "The good news is that Danny's holding his own. He's damn lucky with the amount of blood he's lost." Unexpectedly, Ramirez sat heavily in a spare chair next to Kono. The doctor was clearly worn out and still on edge by the events of the day as he gathered his thoughts.

"The bullet just missed penetrating his stomach. It passed through the muscles surrounding his abdomen, and I never could have hoped for it. But it never entered his true abdominal cavity ..at all." Ramirez shook his head with evident relief as he repeated a few words.

"He's got a fight ahead over the next few hours, but honestly he's damn lucky." Steve blinked in confusion; between the migraine and the stress, he didn't actually understand a single word the man was saying so Ramirez offered them a half-smile as he patiently summarized it once more. "We repaired the damage done by the bullet, and the path of travel did blessedly less harm than we thought."

He paused as the good news sunk in slowly around the group before explaining the more challenging portion. And he could tell by their solemn faces that they each understood that he wasn't yet done. "We lost precious time with Carter." Ramirez was not one to mince words and though he was kind, he was almost too blunt.

"That time .. and I had supplies .. so I had some things to at least try to keep him stabilized. But it was a damnable long _time_." The waiting room was eerily quiet as each team member looked to the other in complete surprise and it was Kono who spoke first.

"Hey Doc .. you aren't blaming yourself for any of this are you? Because that would just be .. ridiculous."

"Utterly ridiculous." Steve softly added. "None of us, including Danny, would have wanted anyone else backing us up. No one else could have done what you did in that room." The doctor sighed without saying a word because he didn't know how to voice his frustration; frankly, that was something he never did nor a problem he was known to have. He did what he had needed to do. But he'd had tools and a great deal of expertise to draw upon and yet, Danny was still in critical condition.

"Fine." Ramirez said, though it wasn't entirely the right word to use. "Fine. He came through surgery but we're having trouble stabilizing him now. With the damned long amount of time to put this situation with Carter to rest .." His voice trailed off as he shook his head again and slapped his knees with both hands. "The blood loss and shock ... the surgery was technically easy .. but Danny's been sorely taxed and is very weak."

Almost unable to stop, he was rambling from fatigue and stress; so he purposefully got to his feet and motioned for them to follow. "We got some good news. But the next few hours will be telling since we're struggling to maintain his vital signs."

And then he was taking a deep breath and they were almost jogging to keep up with his longer legs as he recovered his normally acerbic attitude. "I might be soft in the head when it comes to you four, but I am putting my foot down tonight."

The remark got a dry chuckle from Kono but he turned quickly to point to each one of the close friends. "You can see him for five minutes and then you are all leaving to go home. Not a word of complaint. Not a single argument. Trust me .. I am _**not **_in the mood."

Ramirez's tone was firm and unyielding as the three faces became even more disappointed. "From the anesthesia and pain killers alone, Danny would be sleeping for the next many hours post surgery. But he's critical and we are intentionally keeping him sedated and quiet. Five minutes .. then I insist you all go home and get some rest. Visiting hours begin at nine tomorrow morning and I do not want to see any of you before then."

A few short seconds later, they all convened around the bed and tried to do exactly as Ramirez demanded. Danny was either unconscious or asleep and to Steve, he hardly looked much better than when he had last seen him lying so still on the hospital floor. The only differences being that he was now in a bed and surrounded by machines. Still draped in blankets and shivering, Danny's face was partially obscured by an ever-present oxygen mask. And he was as colorless as before; as pale as the sheets and Steve felt his migraine go up a notch when his eyes followed the various intravenous lines.

Kono put a hand on his arm so that they would all leave together, but Steve lingered a few extra minutes until he was completely alone in the room.

"You're going to be fine .. how could you not be? But even Ponch is worried .. and I don't like that." He whispered quietly as he put his hand over the top of Danny's lax fingers. They were dry and cool to the touch but completely still and Steve paused one last time since he was completely unwilling to leave. "Danno, you have a lot of people in your corner. And Ramirez is the best. Don't disappoint the man; he's actually .. upset."

He waited knowing full well that nothing would happen and he rubbed at the spiking pain behind his eyes in his forehead. "Alright. We'll be back in the morning." And he continued to stand there even after saying the words out loud unable to turn and get his feet moving. But he finally forced himself after once more eyeing Danny from head to foot under the blankets. Besides the mandatory intravenous of fluids, he was also receiving a transfusion and a nurse had come in to check his blood pressure, heart rate and respiration all of which were on the low side. She gave Steve a kind but tolerant look and he offered a small distracted smile in return. Under the blankets, Steve could only guess at the bandaged wounds and he glowered unhappily when he briefly recalled the damaged ribs from so much earlier that morning.

Leaving the room, he was deep in thought and staring at the floor so much so that he crashed into Chin who was waiting for him in the corridor. "I'm taking you home. You're dead on your feet."

Kono was nearby and tossing his truck keys nonchalantly in her hand. Steve patted his pockets and then frowned at his youngest team member. "How did you get those?"

But she merely shrugged and started to walk away. "Just did. I'll take your truck and you take my car. And then I'll meet you and Chin at your place after I pick up something for all of us to eat."

"I'm not sure I approve of that." Steve muttered as Chin guided him out of the SICU. And then he realized he was still geared up and wearing his camo. Kono had rifled through his civilian clothes or his duffel bag hours ago to come up with his truck keys. "I'm not hungry either." But she was already out of sight.

None of them were in a laughing mood, but he registered the amusement in Chin's voice and totally at his expense when he saw the sluggish wheels turning in Steve's head. "She's bossy and she took my keys, Chin."

"She's good. What can I say?"

"Nothing." Steve griped quietly as he slid into the passenger seat of Kono's car. But then he was glad for the reprieve as he closed his burning eyes and leaned heavily into the bucket seat. The migraine was officially out of control and he had to keep his eyes shut for the entire trip back to his house.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Ponch had openly watched the team from the nurse's station to ensure they left the property as he'd demanded.

"I'm impressed you got them to leave. All of them .. not a single straggler." Ellen noted with a quiet chuckle. "But I assume you're staying the night." And he nodded without looking at his wife before striding back towards Danny's room. She fondly watched him almost stalk away with shoulders hunched and hands habitually buried in his white coat.

Over his shoulder he stated the obvious as he disappeared through the doorway and she smiled."Yes. Yes I am."

Ellen was still smiling but with a knowing expression as she made her way to the cafeteria for a small tray of coffee and food that she would bring back up for him. Just as he hadn't needed to look at her, Ellen really hadn't really needed to ask that particular question.

Her husband was more soft-hearted than anyone could ever guess and most especially when it came to the members of the Five-0 team. The surgery had also been a mix of unexpectedly good news marred by the stress of Danny's weakened system. In addition, Ellen knew that afternoon's events had unsettled him greatly. The situation itself had brought back a series of bad memories from a long ago time and he needed to do certain things for himself. He needed to be sure that he stayed exactly where he might be needed the most.

Those fortunate souls that he considered "_his_" would always have his full attention for as long as he could offer it. And now, he needed to be at Tripler and actively monitoring Danny through the tedious night ahead. Not only was it his job, his responsibility .. it was his right; there would be no arguing with him - and why would Ellen or anyone else even want to?

And as Ellen made her way downstairs, she accepted without passing judgement or shedding an ounce of resentment, that she would be staying as well.

**_~ to be continued ~_**


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: thanks for the continued wonderful reviews! I am super behind after travel and a crazed work day on Friday - I will get back to each of you this weekend. BUT really, thank you! Trip was good - and work was amazing on Friday - major issues seem to have been all resolved happily in my favor. It's a miracle!**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**CHAPTER 7**

Later on that night, they all wound up staying at Steve's in varying stages of disarray around the large house. Kono had plunked a full plate of food down in front of Steve and both cousins had watched him slowly turn an interesting shade of green before he stumbled into the bathroom to dry heave. Spoon feeding him pain killers and at least a large glass of milk, they'd pushed him to bed in a darkened room where he stayed for more than half the night. Waking once, he managed a light snack without waking his two guests before taking more medication and retreating until dawn.

And then in the morning, they all moved around each other coming in and out of the kitchen, circulating between the living space, the bedrooms and bathroom. Until finally and almost miraculously they met outside at the same time without having spoken a single word.

The three ambled into the SICU a few minutes early. No one stopped them as they slowly sidled into Danny's room and stood near his bedside.

"I don't think he's moved at all." Kono whispered as she picked up his limp hand and then immediately frowned. "He's hot though." Leaning forward, she lightly felt his forehead and cheek. And as she did, she noticed that Danny's face was flushed and that he was shivering under the blankets. "He has a fever?"

'He does. His temperature started to climb earlier this morning." They all turned when Ellen Ramirez voiced a soft good morning and then confirmed Kono's worries. They watched unhappily as Ellen changed depleted bags of fluids and antibiotics. "Ponch was here all night. I just sent him down to have breakfast and get cleaned up."

The news about the doctor surprised them as the nurse quickly went about her business. "His vitals are at least a little bit better." She sighed as she finished retaking Danny's blood pressure. "We'd like to see that come up more though. And now he's spiking a temperature."

"Damn it, Danny. What are you doing?" Steve muttered under his breath as he turned away from the bed with his hands on his hips. Consumed by worry, he whirled back seconds later to address the nurse. "Now what Ellen? What does this mean?"

"It's mostly due to shock .. and because of that, he's taking longer to recover from the emergency surgery. But Ponch called for a stronger round of antibiotics to be on the safe side and we're pushing fluids. Sedation was stopped hours ago. And I know it's not what you want to hear, but we can only watch and wait at this point." And they all understood that was all to be done so early in Danny's recovery.

"And no, he hasn't woken yet or shown any signs of waking. We'd like him to at least start doing that now." And that seemed to bother the strong-willed head nurse that gently laid the back of her hand over her patient's warm forehead.

"I'll get a cloth and cool water. Maybe that will begin to wake him. If nothing else, I know it will feel good and help with the fever."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

The hard tile floor was gone, as was the threatening loud voice of the soldier. But Ramirez had been there, he was sure of that and the older man had tried to help. _What was the soldier's name?_ Danny frowned as he remembered the anger but not everything about the man. _And what did we need help for? It was because of the soldier. But why - what had he done? _Broken memories became a series of weird questions which he had no answers for; and Danny feebly realized he didn't know where that had been or why he should care.

"_What_..?" He mumbled as an unexpected chill ran through his body and his lids opened only partially to a hazy, gray shadowy world. He felt weak and sick. Snippets of oddly disjointed memories clicked in and out of his mind and he winced as his movements caused a deep aching sensation through his stomach. A child's hand and a gun leaked into his mind and he lurched unexpectedly at the alarming surprise of it and then groaned as a sharp fiery pain flared more into his lower back. Danny's breath altered and he moaned uncomfortably but was entirely confused when he saw a purple-clad child floating in his vision. "_Grace?"_ A little girl who was Grace and yet not Grace had been there once but that was wrong too.

Suddenly there was something on his face and he tossed his head in a weak attempt to shake it off when a stronger force prevented his hand from pushing it aside. What lay on his forehead was cold, damp and Danny wasn't sure if he liked it as another freezing cold chill gripped his body. It was then that he noticed a heavy object covering half his face and even though the air he breathed in was cool, the constricting sensation was additionally disturbing; made more so when he couldn't even move a finger to reach it.

Growing frustrated, he moaned as the coolness washed over his forehead, cheeks and down his neck. Trying to get his lips around words he could barely think to ask, Danny nearly failed at his softly huffed out worried questions. _"Where? What ..Grace?" _

Through eyes that remained only half-open he couldn't focus on the unrecognizable shapes looming darkly over his head and he flinched away only to spontaneously move his right hand to cover the dull ache that had permanently settled into his belly. Once again, he was forcibly stopped and his frustration only grew. Under the oxygen mask, Danny tried to complain as his left hand joined in the struggle against even stronger pressures that now enveloped both his arms.

Sounds were muffled and he didn't understand the deep murmurs that only increased in a distressing volume. Combined with being held down, Danny was sure that he was trapped now but didn't have the strength to fight or get away. Even though Doctor Ramirez had to be there, the angry soldier was still in control. Something must have happened to the doctor and Danny needed to wake up and help. But he wasn't able to and somewhere in the background a faint wild beeping penetrated his hearing. But before real fear could set in, he moaned again as something warming entered his veins to eventually still his restless body and agitated heart rate.

"Was that necessary?" Chin complained to Ellen who had come back quickly into the room as the heart monitor began to climb in cadence. He and Steve had tried to rouse Danny with soft words and the cool cloth. And they were at first encouraged by the slight head movements and mumbled questions. But that had all turned to worry as Danny had stayed in a confused half-waking state where he'd begun to struggle against the oxygen mask and then their calming hands. Steve kept one hand on Danny's arm and another on his shoulder until he felt the tight tension slowly leave his body. He barely listened to the nurse's reply as he watched Danny's face relax and his breathing finally ease.

"Yes. I'm sorry." Ellen simply stated. "His vitals were climbing and he's clearly upset and agitated. He could also accidentally tear the wound open and we just can't take that chance." The thermometer proved that Danny's temperature was still high and much of his disturbing reaction was blamed on that.

"He .. uh .. he .. didn't know where he was." Kono mumbled under her breath. "He was still with Carter I think .. and it sounded like he thought Grace was there instead of Erin." Not expecting the feverish ramblings, Steve and Chin could only rinse the cloth and lay it across Danny's forehead. And Ellen didn't have too much to add to Kono's words as she covered Danny with another blanket.

Feeling more useless by the second, they allowed Ellen to usher them into the hallway where she kept her voice low. "The next few days are going to be very hard on him .. and also on you. The rise in his temperature is not a good sign, but you know that we are already aggressively trying to bring it down. Ponch will be back soon to check in on things."

"Yeah, okay." Steve softly replied but had no words left to say or questions to ask and then Ellen was gone to respond to another SICU patient in distress.

"What are we going to do?" Kono asked inanely. Her hands spread wide at the feelings of futility they all were experiencing. "Nothing?"

"I know that I need to call Rachel." The obvious first step was to let her know that maybe it was too soon for Danny's ex-wife to bring their daughter over for a visit. Steve pulled his cell phone out as he turned to leave the ICU area. "I'll be outside. All of this is just going to scare Grace."

Kono watched him walk away and shook her head before repeating her words in a worried voice. "This is just so .. wrong. What are we going to do, Chin? What are we supposed to do?"

"We pray .. wait .. and hope." His voice offered a quiet focused sense of reason and she sighed in frustration since Chin was right and that was all they could do until Danny won his battle. Silently, the cousins went back into the hospital room.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**CHAPTER 8**

"Hot." Danny complained as he tried to feebly climb out of what felt like a mountain of much too heavy blankets. His eyes were half-closed and his dry lips ached for water but he couldn't seem to get past the murky shadows. He sighed in relief as an ice chip was gently spooned into his mouth. There was a soft nonsensical deep murmur of sound and he stilled as a second ice chip followed the first. "Too hot" He murmured again as he swallowed the cooling liquid only to immediately want more.

"Danny." Steve sat on the edge of the hospital bed with the small Styrofoam cup and plastic spoon and he was still trying to rouse his friend from the fevered ramblings. "Let's go buddy. Time to wake up .. just for a few minutes."

Putting the cup down, Steve went back to using the cool cloth to wipe down his face, neck and each of his arms. It was plain to see that the care was appreciated as Danny weakly sighed and ever so slightly relaxed. But he seemed wholly unable to wake up entirely. Doctor Ramirez had recently left the room grumbling about obnoxious patients who refused to behave properly. But Ellen had remained behind.

"We're going to switch out to cold packs." Steve watched Ellen and another nurse arrange the packs at the critical pulse points in attempt to lower Danny's much too high temperature. Heavy blankets were removed for lighter sheets too; and still the heat rolled off him.

A few hours later, it all finally seemed to work as two glassy eyes blinked up at Steve. "How are you feeling?" Steve whispered as he paused in rinsing the cloth for what seemed an endless amount of tedious cycles. When his partner didn't immediately reply, he became worried about the earlier delirious ramblings and automatically put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Danny?"

"Steve." The obvious reply resulted in a larger than life grin and it made the sick man wearily raise one eyebrow. "What .. happened? Why .. so hot?"

His temperature was still high as he vainly tried to push the one sheet off his body but then grimaced at the painful ache across his chest and stomach. Still grinning, Steve shook his head as he pulled the sheet back up the mere inch Danny had shoved it down.

"You had surgery after the standoff with Carter and now you managed to spike a fever. Doc Ramirez says you're going to be laid up for a few weeks but .. you were damned lucky." Seeing the glimmer of pain in Danny's eyes that challenged exactly how lucky he really might be, Steve used the call button to notify the nurse's station.

"How are you feeling, Danno? Doc Ramirez will be back in a few minutes too. He's going to be happy to see you awake."

The long explanation was almost too fast for Danny as he frowned and tried to follow what Steve was trying so excitedly to say. So he latched on to the last words he heard. "Who's happy? Other than .. you .. why are you so happy?"

The chuffed pleased sound and the genuine smile once again made Danny raise a questioning eyebrow. "Words Steven. Too tired .. for games."

"You've been out for a long time and then this fever .. we've all been worried sick and Grace wants to see you. It's late now though - so, tomorrow. She'll be here tomorrow, Danno." Feverishly hot and a bit achy, Danny vaguely remembered odd dreams and a feeling of unease. So now, the honest sincerity wasn't lost on him as he blearily measured Steve's face and saw the exhausted relief behind the ridiculously goofy grin

"It's good to see you awake. Finally."

"Oh." Blinking as his ill body tried to draw him back into sleep, Danny tried to shrug and then his mouth quirked into his own attempt at a grin. "Sorry."

Seconds later, though still complaining about being much too hot and just a bit restless, Danny was sleeping again and Steve was still smiling.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

The respite was short though as Danny's temperature remained distressingly elevated. And Doctor Ramirez showed up in increasing intervals fussing over the surgical site and then his patient's readings. He was clearly as unhappy as the rest of the team as the big doctor bristled darkly at any question as if they were a personal affront.

Ellen sighed as she looked from Steve to her husband and didn't even attempt to start a conversation. Each man was **_not_ **handling the situation in completely different manners. Ramirez would sit quietly and stew .. staring almost angrily at Danny as if willing him to be well. Whereas Steve was a whirlwind of motion because now that Danny had awoken once, he clearly expected more and had promised a visit from the detective's daughter. Pacing constantly in the room, Steve moved out to the corridor when the doctor growled a warning against the senseless activity.

Refusing to leave the ICU, Steve glowered back at Ponch when the doctor insisted he leave for the night with the cousins. The argument was silent and very brief with Ramirez throwing his hands up in the air to stalk disgustedly from the room.

"I need to make rounds." Ramirez stated and he was gone before Steve could answer. Heaving a sigh, Steve leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes only to fall asleep after a nurse had come in to check Danny's chart. His jolted awakening from that deep doze was in response to a nearly darkened room that was quiet .. much too _quiet_ .. and a deep fear settled uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach.

He stumbled to his feet and audibly choked when he saw the unmoving body lying in the bed. "Danny?" Steve stammered out hesitantly. Afraid to touch him, Steve was shocked by the lax, expressionless face. Danny's head was slightly turned away from him, his face was pale in the limited night-time light of the room and his hands rested palm up on top of the blankets. Steve's fingers hovered uncertainly over the unmoving chest until he saw the very shallow rise and fall.

"Danny?" He whispered again in a voice laced with undisguised concern. But this time, the subtle breath movement allowed him to rest his shaking hand on the light sheet, shocked when it came away wet.

"Oh." He breathed out as understanding blossomed instantly to replace fear. Quickly, Steve laid the back of his hand on Danny's forehead and then his cheek; only then he dared to smile. Danny's face was cool – almost normal – and the bed sheets were soaked through completely. "Oh. This is good news." Steve whispered as earlier fears turned to joy when he now realized Danny was actually in a natural, healing sleep.

"Fever's broken." Steve managed to wheeze out happily as he hit the nurse's call button and tossed each of the useless ice packs to the floor. He had the wet top sheet stripped down and a dry, warm blanket in its place before the first nurse arrived with Ramirez only a few footsteps behind.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: my continued thanks for the encouragement and such wonderful reviews! Special thanks as always to Cinderh, Jazzie and Synbou - luv you guys! ;-) **

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**CHAPTER 9**

"Another four days?" Danny blurted the words out in shock to Doctor Ramirez who was now sitting perched on the edge of the hospital bed. "Four! Why so long?" The doctor had been very pleased by the sudden break in his patient's temperature. More than pleased at the unexpected news and now normal readings across the board. But he was being, what Danny deemed over-cautious, at the estimated number of days before his patient could expect to be released from the hospital. And then it would be at least two additional weeks worth of time before he could resume 'moderate activity' - whatever _that_ was - and however that was defined, the annoying bottom-line meant no immediate return to field work.

Setting his jaw determinedly, Ramirez was already finding the argument tedious as he explained why his patient needed to stay hospitalized for additional care. The doctor had just finished changing his bandages and was silent before answering Danny's petulant complaints. "Because, Detective. I said so."

"That's hardly an answer." Danny griped unhappily, wincing as Ramirez palpitated his very sore stomach.

"If you'd open your ears about my original explanation, you wouldn't continually be asking me the very same question now. Would you?" The older man snarked back with a mocking tone. "I could make it five .. and actually have a mind to."

To forestall further discussion, Ramirez leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. "Do me a favor. Let's prove a point, shall we?" Danny glared at the man suspiciously as he waited.

"Just .. sit up. Sit up and then show me how you can physically swing your legs off the bed. Unassisted."

Chin was in the room. Standing silently in the background and his eyes widened in surprise at the doctor's challenge. Both Steve and Kono were down in the cafeteria getting coffee. If they'd been present, he was sure that their expressions would mimic his own.

"Uh .. Doc." Chin mumbled as he rocked off the wall to move closer to the bed. He clearly understood that Ramirez wanted to teach Danny a strong lesson, but Danny would try and he would try _hard_. But he was forced to close his mouth as the doctor's hand came up warningly.

So he only grimaced in sympathy and took a step back from the bed when Danny growled at him too. "Chin. I got this."

"Alright, brah. But I really don't think so." Shaking his head at the coming folly, Chin's face remained distinctly unhappy about what was going to happen.

To make matters worse, Ramirez was now standing and he had even raised the head of the bed to be more convenient. Tossing the remote to the foot of the bed, he moved the blankets off Danny and motioned for him to try.

"Okay, let's go. Show me." And Danny tried. He doggedly got as far as shifting his weight on an elbow. When that failed, he used both hands and leveraged himself awkwardly on to his side before a sharp pain stopped him cold and took his breath away. Visibly screwing his face up from the pain, he fell back weakly into the pillows as it rocketed not only through his stomach, but also into his lower back.

"Injury to the abdominal muscles is one of the most painful, Detective. Add to that, the fact that the bullet exited through the muscles of your lower back. And what do we have? Hmm?" Ramirez smiled curtly as his patient panted and blinked pain filled tears from his eyes. Leaning forward, he fixed the blankets back around Danny's waist and then raised the side rails to the bed. Snaring the remote back, Danny found himself being reclined to a more comfortable position.

"You need to rest." Ramirez softened slightly as he watched his patient come to terms with the necessary slow steps towards recuperation. "Even with medication, you are going to feel very sore. You need to rest, heal and then will still need to be careful with any type of activity for a couple of weeks."

It was all enough for Danny to merely nod with undeniable defeat in his eyes as the doctor continued and Chin tried to hide a small smile. "I also don't want you to risk tearing what we just repaired. And Danny, it can happen much easier than you might like to think. So put your feet up and enjoy your stay. You aren't going anywhere until I say so."

The words and absolute proof of his painful weakness didn't open the door for any type of continued discussion or argument and so Danny could only dismally watch the doctor stride away. Only Chin saw the cheeky wink and Ramirez's gleeful smile as he exited the room.

Once he was gone, it was only a matter of moments before Steve re-entered with a beaming grin of his own. Kono was still in the cafeteria, but Steve had met Ponch in the hallway and gotten the abbreviated rundown on when his partner could expect to be released.

"Four days isn't so bad, Danno. It's the two plus weeks after that which are going to get on your nerves." The funny sound Chin made in the back of his throat said that was an understatement. And it made Danny purse his lips and narrow his eyes at the obvious meaning which included the potential for trying the patience of his friends.

"Says you." He muttered irritably before picking at the bedding and then aimlessly turning on the television.

"No, says Ponch." Steve brightly replied as he lounged back in the bedside chair. It was a startling change from just the previous day where Danny lay so miserably in bed; tossing and turning in a restless fevered state.

"What a difference a day makes." Steve muttered to Chin happily as he stared at Danny's weary, but now animated face. Grinning, he caught his eye and stretched his long legs out in front of him.

"Besides, Grace is on her way over now. So wipe that look off your face and get ready for a ray of sunshine .. _sunshine_."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Two days later, Danny was being wheeled to a completely different wing of the hospital. It was late morning and his team needed to work .. it was also the first time that the man he had asked to see was coherent. Before going through the last set of double doors, Doctor Ramirez stopped and once again felt obligated to remind Danny that Corporal Carter might not be all that willing to talk.

"I'd just like to see him." Danny said quietly. "I know what you're saying .. but I would like to see him anyway." After learning of the Corporal's more recent injuries in a barroom brawl that had worsened his TBI and resulted in the serious incident at TAMC, Danny had been drawn to the man. Ramirez silently made the arrangements with the caveat that he attend the brief meeting with his patient.

"He may or may not be receptive." According to the Corporal's doctors, his temperament could still be volatile and though he was obviously being treated, they didn't expect any major, future improvements. Whatever he had been hit with in the alley near the bar had caused a serious swelling to complicate the original overseas injury. After the ordeal in the emergency room, Carter had lapses of unconsciousness and had only been lucid for less than a day. Understanding that there might not be a conversation or even a congenial meeting, Danny had still asked to visit the solider.

An M.P. was stationed outside and he insisted on remaining in the corner of the room during their visit. In addition, Carter was cuffed to his bed. But then both men were surprised by the Corporal's sincerely overwhelmed response when they announced their arrival. Barely able to remember what he had done, the soldier did know he had injured two people and created quite a stir in the facility.

"You came to see me? Why would you .. after what I've done?" Danny couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he introduced himself to the embarrassed and teary-eyed soldier.

"Because none of it was your fault." In fact, Danny had no intention of doing more than making sure the solider got the help he needed. TAMC and the military could do whatever they liked, but for his part, Danny merely wanted the man to get the help he deserved. He had additionally made that particular point clear to anyone who would listen. They visited for a short time; and the meeting was brief for two important reasons. The first being that Carter's concussion was severe and he tired quickly. And as they quietly spoke amongst themselves, Ramirez was the one that noticed the man's pained change in breathing.

"Headache? Migraine?" The older doctor kindly asked and then Carter didn't object as his two visitors excused themselves immediately to then send someone in with the appropriate pain medication.

The second issue was with Danny as his healing muscles became fatigued and he needed to rest. He was back in his own room and happily taking his own medications as weary abdominal and back muscles seemed to seize and cramp. His much wiser expression made Ramirez chortle as he bounced on his toes while Danny gently rubbed the outside of the bandages on his stomach.

"Now you understand the four days." Ramirez grinned as his patient gave him a half-grin. But the activity was also exhausting for him and on top of the medication, Danny was soon sound asleep.

Turning to leave, Doctor Ramirez came face to face with a pig-tailed blonde-haired little girl. She was staring up at him with astonished brown eyes and his mouth dropped open. A child-sized stethoscope hung around her neck and she was wearing something that could almost be a white doctor's lab coat but it went well past her knees.

With both her hands shoved deeply into the over-sized pockets of that coat, she was studying him with an unabashed adoration. At least seven tongue depressors and two lollipops peeked out of her top breast pocket; the name tag carefully pinned above them was borrowed from her father and clearly said "_McRaney_".

"Oh no." He muttered as he tried to sidle around the six-year old. It was then that he saw Steve and McRaney lurking in the corridor. He was sure that Ellen was nearby when he heard the all too familiar muffled laughter.

With no choice but to accept the inevitable, Doctor Ramirez rolled his eyes at Erin McRaney and held his hand out to her. The smile that broke across her face was huge and honest as she willingly wrapped her fingers around his thumb.

"Well come on then. We have rounds to do."

_**~ End ~**_


End file.
